Suzanne Vega was a
folk music artist from New York. She grew up in
Spanish Harlem, and took an interest in the arts at a
young age. She attended the High School of
Performing Arts in LaGuardia, where she studied dance.
While attending college as an English major, she had
some of her music published, which caught the attention
of a major recording company, and Vega was signed.

Suzanne Vega's first
self-titled release
was released in 1985. It was more successful in
the UK than the USA. Some of you may remember the
song "Marlene on the Wall" from this album, which did
feature an MTV video. It was Vega's second
release, Solitude Standing in 1987,
that featured the songs for which she is most remembered: "Luka" and "Tom's Diner"
(this song was not a hit until it was remixed in 1990).
Tom's Diner is the Seinfeld restaurant called Monk's.

Suzanne Vega continued producing well
into the 1990's and beyond, although her earlier success
was never replicated. She was known to be active
well into the 2010's. The Suzanne Vega Discography
is as follows:

1985: Suzanne Vega

1987: Solitude Standing

1990: Days of Open Hand

1992: 99.9F°

1996: Nine Objects of Desire

1998: Tried & True: The Best of Suzanne Vega

2001: Songs in Red and Gray

2003: Retrospective: The Best of Suzanne Vega

2007: Beauty & Crime

1987Solitude Standing

LUKA:[starts] My name is Luka, I live on the second
floor, I live upstairs from you,
Yes I think you've seen me before, If you hear
something late at night, Some kind of trouble,
some kind of fight,
Just don't ask me what it was [etc]